Michael Marchetti
From The Bionic Wiki
| Played by Richard Lenz | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Michael Marchetti | ||
| Job/Title | OSI physician | |
| Appearances | ||
| SMDM | The Return of the Bionic Woman The Return of the Bionic Woman (Part II) Welcome Home, Jaime | |
| BW | The Vega Influence | |
| Reunion | none | |
Dr. Michael Marchetti is a young assistant of Dr. Rudy Wells, and present when Jaime Sommers dies on Dr. Wells' operating table. However, Marchetti does not give up when Jaime's body rejects her Bionic replacements. Using revolutionary new cryogenic techniques, which he had been developing, Marchetti saves Jaime's life.
Accompanied by his medical colleague, Dr. Wells at the Bionic facility in Colorado Springs, they perform additional surgery to restore Jaime's memory -- which is causing her great pain whenever she thinks about Steve Austin. The medical procedure is a success.
Following the cryogenic operation, Marchetti is key to Jaime's recovery. She quickly finds herself reliant upon him, and even starts to develop romantic feelings towards him. Although he partially dismisses her romantic ambitions as a classic psychological syndrome that occurs in some patients, he also pointedly fails to discourage her. He thus has a somewhat complicated relationship with Steve, in which the two are amiable rivals for her affection. His relationship with Jaime fades soon after her recovery, for reasons not explored (The Return of the Bionic Woman).
Marchetti does not become a regular character in the subsequent spin-off series, making only a single appearance in "The Vega Influence".
[edit] Deconstructed
- Marchetti's relationship with Jaime would presumably have gotten his medical license stripped from him, had the matter been taken up with the American Medical Association. The complete failure of anyone — Steve, Oscar, Rudy or himself — to even consider his actions inappropriate is somewhat baffling to 21st-century viewers. One could imagine that, because he told Steve that he was genuinely attracted to her, he might've believed he wasn't taking advantage of her. Indeed, the pact between he and Steve to let Jaime choose for herself may have allowed him to consider the relationshp one between equals. Alternately, it is possible to believe that he allowed himself the indulgence because he knew that a case against him would never make it to a review board, given the top secret nature of the bionics program.
